CHAPTER ONE, The Girl Who Read [And the Boy Who Kissed Her]: merely observing

❝You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.❞

― Dr. Seuss

She looked even more angelic in her pale blue, lacy sundress.

Her long, golden hair flounced around her face as she bent over a stack of books, snagging the thick Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix book. Her bright, blue eyes sparkled in joy as she smoothed her hand over the cover.

Sighing happily, she laid (stomach-down) on the white, furry rug with her mile-long, tanned legs crossed in the air. Her dainty, slender finger tucked back a strand of curly blonde hair, which had been covering her beautiful face, behind her ear. She bit lightly into her rosy red, bottom lip and furrowed her slightly bushy eyebrows.

She scrunched up her adorable, button nose, with her freckles like stars in a constellation dancing across her cheeks. He could see the indent of a slight dimple forming on her right cheek as she giggled, her eyes in a trance as they traveled across the pages of the books.

She was gorgeous.

His heart tugged at the sight of her in the bookstore. He supposed you could call him a stalker, but he preferred the term 'observer'. 'Observing' her every day never did much harm.

Right now, he was peering at her from behind one of the bookshelves, and had been for about forty minutes so far today. Merely observing, he told himself.

He couldn't help but stare at her. She was unique, special. The girl had just closed the book; she stretched her legs and arms, yawning loudly, sounding like a mewing, adorable kitten. Walking over to one of the smaller bookcases in the bookstore, she rummaged through some papers on top of it on her tiptoes. Squinting her baby blue doe eyes, she found a spare #2 pencil and placed it behind her ear, moving a couple pieces of her thick, golden locks behind it as well. She rummaged around some more until she grabbed a thin, battered, black notebook. She started slowly walking away.

This is my chance, he thought. I've been practicing in the mirror for days; I'm ready.

And he slipped out of his hiding spot [behind the bookcase in the third row in the children's section] and quietly, stealthily, walked over to her.

"H-hey!" He yelped in a high-pitched squeak that was supposed to come out manly.

"Um, hi..." She said questioningly, quirking up an eyebrow. He blew a bit of his unruly, curly brown hair out of his eyes and leaned against the tiny bookcase.

"Um, s-so I was wondering..." He took a deep breath and placed his right foot on the bookcase behind him and crossed his arms (trying to look cool). "If you would w-want-"

"Spencer!" She cried out in warning, dropping the worn-out book as she ran to him, grabbing his arm, as the small bookcase collapsed behind him.

Books flew left and right, miscellaneous papers scattering all over the floor, and Spencer, since he was leaning against the bookcase, lost his balance and fell on top of it, stumbling onto his back. Someone's long-fingered hand was wrapped around his bicep, and he realized that she had fallen on top of him.

Her big, widened, baby blue doe eyes were inches away from his hazel ones. Her fingernails scraped against his arm, sending magnificent tingles reverberating down his spine, the ones he always got around her. She didn't dare move as he rolled over, with her in his arms, to help ease the pain of the bookcase digging into his shoulder. He rolled over so that she was still on top of him, one hand securely wrapped around his bicep, and the other planted above his head.

She also did not dare move when he lifted his hand to swipe the blonde hair that had been covering her eyes. He felt her small body tremble a bit when his hand drifted down to her waist, where he began tracing minuscule, invisible hearts on the small of exposed skin just below where her t-shirt had bunched up. He made sure to keep his eyes transfixed with her magical, mesmerizing ones. He'd been waiting for this exact moment since he first saw her.

It was raining. The pellets of water sliding down the crook of her nose and the curve of her cheek. She clutched her books closer to her drenched clothes. She looked freezing, and he wanted nothing more than to wrap his small arms around her precious frame. One of her sneakers was untied, so she kept tripping and stumbling down the road to where he guessed was her home. She was interesting, without a jacket or umbrella, carrying extra books home on a Friday. He decided to follow her, making twists and turns until they finally reached a place called 'Tiny's Bookstore' that had a small apartment on top. Her petite, fifth-grader form trudged on and opened the door to the bookstore. A belle chimed when the door opened and he slipped in behind her. She slowly took off her shoes one at a time, and laid on the floor, quietly choosing one of her new books. She began reading the chosen book, placing the others beside her head of drenched strands of soaked blonde hair. As the girl slowly stuttered out the words of the book, he silently moved closer to her melodic voice to hear the beautiful story woven by words that almost lulled him to sleep with her soothing, safe voice.

Up close, her freckles were even cuter. They spanned from the area of her button nose to her puffy squirrel cheeks, and he began to count them.

One. Two. Three. Four. Those freckles moved in a zigzag down her nose. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. He smoothed the back of his hand against her rosy red cheek and felt his breath hitch. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. He changed it so that his hand was now cupping her freckle-filled cheek and she fluttered her long, curly eyelashes and nuzzled her head a bit into his warm (and probably sweaty from nervousness) hand, smiling faintly. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. Her honey-blonde hair fanned around her face and tickled his jawline. Hr lips were parted and he could feel her hot breath on his neck, sending shivers up and down his body. Her breath smelled like bubblegum. He vaguely wondered if she tasted like it, too. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. His fingers crawled up her cheek and into her thick, golden hair. Twenty-four. Twenty-five. He tipped her head slightly. Twenty-six. He couldn't help it. He pressed his lips against hers. She froze on top of him as he continued kissing. Well this is awkward.

He closed his hazel eyes in an attempt to block out the world. As his right hand combed through her hair, his left hand gently squeezed her hip, as if to urge her on.

Then her slender fingers slid into his curls as she tentatively responded to his kiss. He felt her gently nip on his bottom lip sending tingles to his toes. He sent his tongue exploring her mouth and yes; she tasted like bubblegum. As her fingers twirled and curled and combed his uncooperative curls, his tongue swirled and whirled and fought with her tongue in a battle of control. He made a growling sound in the back of his throat when she began to suck on his bottom lip. He didn't want to stop.

He took a breather and began placing small butterfly kisses on each one of her freckles. He heard her sharp intake of breath as he moved down to her throat. Her moan made him groan in pleasure, and that's when reality set in; the one girl he'd had eyes for, the one girl he watched almost every day get emotional at five-hundred pages, pages filled with different scenarios of the alphabet. The girl who would frantically devour word for word and sometimes pulled an ecstatic, light-up-your-world-grin that could make angels rain down from the heavens, but other times the girl would stay up real late with a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream tucked under her arm with the rain splashing outside like her tears on the paper, in perfect condition except for the occasional waterworks stain. Her lips were on his.

The five years of standing in creative ways behind bookcases, under desks, and squished under a purple beanbag chair with a kid sitting on top of it was completely worth this incredible, searing kiss that set his whole body aflame.

And she knew his name. The mere reminder of her calling out his name made him giddy in happiness.

She knew his name!

His face flew into a vibrant smile as he let out a joyous bark of laughter as he swooped in for a second kiss, his lips feeling numb and tingly.

"I can't believe we're kissing right now," he whispered between pecks.

"Mmhm," she muttered against his mouth, running her left hand through his mass of unruly, brown hair again.

"I heard a banging noise! Skylar, what on Earth is goi- oh, my God." Mrs. Jackson stopped in her tracks when she saw the two of them hushed, and slightly out of breath in the middle of the disaster of sprawled out books and the over-turned bookcase.

"S-sorry mom. Spencer and I just kind of fell on top of the bookcase...?" Skylar stammered softly, touching her fingers to her lips each word and blushing a darker shade of red each time.

"Fell onto each other's lips?" Mrs. Jackson said bluntly. "Hun, I think even blind people could tell you two were making out."

She's not ashamed of speaking what's on her mind, Spencer thought, horrified.

"It's okay, my lips are sealed. But in the meantime, keep yours sealed too. This is my bookstore, so do what I say, and kissing draws away customers. And please, pick up the bookcase and books as well. You too, Spencer dear. Sky, I'll be making dinner if you need me." Mrs. Jackson whisked away, in her high-heeled sandals, throwing a not-so-subtle wink over her shoulder at the two of them.

Skylar let out a shaky sigh and slowly laid back down against the furry white carpet while burying her face in her hands. "Oh my Lord."

Spencer wanted to chuckle at her face, but he was pretty mortified himself.

"Let's clean this up," he tried saying as casually as possible, but it's kind of hard when you're talking to the somewhat-stranger that you just made out with after her mother catches you kissing.

She groaned and licked her lips, gradually moving to a standing position. Her blonde ringlets of hair fanned crazily over her shoulders in multiple different directions.

"Y-you don't have to help, if you don't' want to. It was my fault, so..." He scratched the back of his neck nervously and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Of course I'm helping," she whispered to him, tilting her head forward so all her golden curls fell into her beautiful face. "It's my mom's bookstore, anyways."

He hardly found that an excuse to help him but she dropped to her knees and began piling book on top of book. He lifted the bookcase right-side-up and knelt beside her, starting to help. He picked up a new copy of The Hunger Games and quickly sniffed it. He loved the new book smell. He had read it because he saw Skylar bring it to school one day. He placed the book on the bottom of the pile. He proceeded in walking around and piling books, copying her every move, so every once in a while, their pinky fingers would brush, and she'd flinch and pull away, as if electrocuted.

He then noticed the papers that had fluttered to the floor during the chaos, and the little, black book she had been holding before it. He grabbed them while she was absentmindedly stacking the novels. He quickly flicked through some of the notebooks; they were all books. Some horror, some comedy, a couple fanfiction (he spotted some Percabeth and Luke Hemmings in there), and some romance. Hmm, she writes romance?

She cried out, "David, I swear-"

"No, Amber. I'm outta here." He swung his backpack angrily over his shoulder and she blinked and sat down as tears began to form in her eyes-

"Have you ever been in love?" He asked her, and she stopped organizing the books for a moment.

"I...I don't really know if it would be categorized as love. Why?"

"Well, I sort of read a couple sentences of the book you wrote-" he began, and stopped when she swatted the notebook out of his hands.

"Don't go through my things."

"I'm sorry," He genuinely apologized. "But reading a couple lines, I can kind of tell you don't know how to write out love."

She 'humph'ed at him and raised an eyebrow. "I know my writing's shitty. How would you know how to write out love, Mr. Romance-Guru?"

"I know what love feels like," he shrugged. "If these characters were truly madly in love, they wouldn't let the other leave, it'd be like having your other half ripped away from you. They would trust one another, because that person would be your everything. She wouldn't be crying, she would be running after her loved one." He couldn't believe he told her. She'd think he was gay, or a freak or something.

She looked astonished. "Mr. Love Expert, you're going to need to give me some of your tips on love."

"Love tips, you say?" He teased. "How about I make you fall in love with me, and you can write a book about it?"

Shit. He didn't mean to say that.

She was silent, until she replied. "...Why not?"

"Um, excuse me?" He uttered.

"Jeez, do you need hearing aids?" She joked. "I said, why not? We do little things that people in love do, assuming you know what that is. You don't need to, I mean... Only if you want to. We don't really have anything to lose, right?"

Actually, he had a lot to lose. If she didn't fall for him, the chances of them together went bye bye! So long! Hasta-La Vista! But he didn't tell her that.

"Here's my phone number," He said instead, and scribbled it out on the last page of her notebook. He also wrote a little note.

Get ready to fall in luuurve with me.

-Spencer

Closing his eyes briefly, he gained the courage to hand her the notebook, and cupped her cheeks with his hands, planting one sweet kiss on the center of her forehead.

"Call me when you need me," He whispered to her, reluctantly letting go of her before he tilted his lips onto hers again and walked out the door, once again hearing the 'ding' of the bell.

a/n

i apologize a million times about not updating earlier, i was originally gonna finish typing the whole thing, but ah whatever. ill wing it.

dedicated to kpgcatlover because she read the summary and commented and oH MY GOD THAT MADE MY LIFE AHH

love you guys so much, this story's already at 4,000? wooooow *hugs you all*

leave a comment below if fulfilled your expectations, or vote if you liked it, that'd mean a lot :)

(PS chapter's rllllly crappy but i swear it gets better)